Handwritten newspaper Xiao Man solar terms

Solar terms refer to the twenty-four solar terms and climate, which is a supplementary calendar formulated by China in ancient times to guide farming, and is the crystallization of the long-term experience and wisdom of the working people of the Han nationality.

Since China was an agricultural society in ancient times, agriculture needed to have a strict understanding of the operation of the sun, and farming was carried out entirely according to the sun. Therefore, the "twenty-four solar terms" that reflect the solar cycle alone are added to the calendar as the standard for determining leap months.

China's orthodox 24 solar terms are based on Henan. China's lunar calendar is a combination of yin and yang, which is based on the movement of the sun and the moon, so adding 24 solar terms can better reflect the cycle of the sun's movement.

The 24 solar terms are: beginning of spring, rain, fright, vernal equinox, Qingming, Grain Rain, Changxia, Xiaoman, Mangzhong, Summer Solstice, Slight Summer, beginning of autumn, Early Summer, Millennium, Autumn Equinox, Cold Dew, Early Frost, beginning of winter, Light Snow, Heavy Snow, Winter Solstice, Slight Cold and Great Cold.